How do you know that a detox protocol is a good idea for you? When you have a health goal that seems stalled regardless of your effort, chances are the biochemistry of your body is compromised by environmental toxins, heavy metals, and/or pathogens. If you have a chronic health condition that compromises your vitality, it’s likely your body needs help detoxifying the debris from daily metabolism. If, like me with autoimmune hepatitis and autoimmune encephalitis, you find yourself in the midst of a health crisis…detoxification may be your lifejacket back to shore.

For me, the process of discovery led me through at least 50 hours of medical lectures and conferences to develop an understanding of how I could detoxify my severely compromised body safely. This is what I learned…and am learning ; >) Continue reading →

Many refer to cannabis as their “medicine.” Do you? If so, it’s important to assess the quality of cannabis you use for medicinal purposes. The same people who have health conditions that benefit from medical cannabis are also the people who have a need for clean medicine–medicine that is free of environmental toxins like solvents, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers.

Of course, it’s cheaper and easier to cultivate cannabis using synthetic chemicals. Better profit margins and less expensive for consumers. In a recreational market, that’s a choice people can assess for themselves. In a medical cannabis world, however, the trade-off to go cheaper is a much higher cost to the (already compromised) health of the user. And that’s why it matters. If you, like me, are among the group of people who call cannabis our medicine, it’s relevant that the medicine we put into our bodies–and the bodies of people and animals we love–fully support healing and health. Right? Continue reading →

Chemically, CBD is CBD is CBD. Even if you call it by it’s scientific name, cannabidiol, it’s still the same chemically whether it comes from a hemp or cannabis. But that’s where the “sameness” ends. In other words, the plant source makes the difference that matters.

Let’s start with hemp. Hemp is amazing. It’s nutritious, can be used as a fiber for clothing or paper, is strong enough to build structures, and has the awesome ability to clean up toxic land by absorbing the toxicity up through the root system. Indeed, it’s this awesome toxicity absorption ability that makes hemp CBD a potential risk. Unless the hemp is carefully sourced, the potential for toxic chemicals and/or metals to be found along with CBD in the tincture or topical or edible is relatively high. And that’s a concern for people using CBD for medical reasons who want clean medicine. The first concern is aggravated by the reality that CBD grows in hemp in lower concentrations, requiring more hemp for the same amount of CBD produced in cannabis… increasing the risk of heavy metals or toxic chemicals finding their way into the medicine as well. Continue reading →

Who thinks–or thought until I asked the question–that cannabis grows THC and CBD? Join the club…a lot of us familiar with the substance but unfamiliar with the science think, or thought, that. It’s the logical assumption to make. But it’s not accurate, and it matters when the topic is medical cannabis. Cannabinoid-acids. That’s the topic for scientific accuracy today.

It matters because medical cannabis is about the science–the ratios, if you will–of all the components in the plant and how to mix them for the most efficacious results. So, let’s talk a little science, shall we? The cannabis plant grows cannabinoid acids. Cannabinoid acids are biochemically different than cannabinoids because of the acid attached to each molecule. This acid stops the cannabinoid from fitting into the endocannabinoid system receptor sites. This doesn’t mean that cannabinoid acids are lacking in therapeutic value. Quite the opposite. THC-A is proven to be twice as effective as an anti-inflammatory as corticosteroids are, and CBD-A, combined with CBD, is more effective for more types of epilepsy than CBD by itself. These are just two well established actions; the research into cannabinoid acids continues to show promising results in additional areas like the treatment of psoriasis and other skin conditions and more. Continue reading →

Now that the endocannabinoid system is a proven science (click here to read more on this,) and you’ve assessed your own body’s health to determine that you can benefit from supporting your body with phyto-cannabinoids, the next topic to cover is which cannabinoids offer relief for which conditions… and in what ratios.

Yep, it’s a hefty topic. Let’s break it down into understandable chunks that we can further investigate at deeper levels in following articles. So, the first level to explore are general truths about which health conditions are proven to be supported by phyto-cannabinoids. Let’s get started. Continue reading →

Dr Ethan Russo, known for his ground-breaking work using medical cannabis with patients suffering from AIDS, Cancer, and Krohn’s Disease, posits that disease is the result of poor endocannabinoid tone. I covered this topic generally in the article Assess the Health of Your Endocannabinoid System, and today we’ll dig a little deeper into the nutrition component of Endocannabinoid Tone as well as the role nutrition plays in the phyto-cannabinoid support medical cannabis offers.

The endocannabinoid system is pervasive throughout the body, both on the outer and inner membranes of every cell, and functions in all tissues and systems throughout the body. Indeed, recent research suggests that even the microbiome in our guts is responsive to the signaling of cannabinoids. Continue reading →

The first part of the question is a scientific fact: Cannabinoids are a type of terpenoid–while not all terpenoids are cannabinoids, all cannabinoids are terpenoids. Both endocannabinoids (made in the body) and phyto-cannabinoids (from the cannabis plant) interact with receptors on the cells throughout the body, including the immune system and the central nervous system. The body has two types of receptors: CB1 receptors in the brain and central nervous system and CB2 receptors in the immune system. The cannabinoids in cannabis mimic the natural compounds in your body, binding to receptors inside the body. This binding process is the reason you feel the physical effects of using cannabis as it signals various physiological actions to either up or down regulate toward homeostasis.

Science answers the second part of the question as well: every cell, every tissue, and organ in the body has cannabinoid receptor sites to help sustain harmony and homeostasis within and between body systems. When looking at the earliest stage of disease, scientists discovered that cannabinoid deficiencies correlate strongly to poor health. That’s something we should all care about, right? (For more on how to assess and support endocannabinoid system health, click here.) Continue reading →

It’s the scent that fills your lungs when hiking in nature–terpenes. The fragrance that captures your mind and takes you into a memory–terpenes. The smell of a delicious meal simmering–terpenes. The waft of a ripe piece of fruit–terpenes. All of them, worthy experiences of the terpene molecule… but terpenes combined with the right ratio of cannabinoids… that’s what makes medical cannabis magical.

Think about all those cannabinoid receptors on every cell in the body. (Read here to learn more about them) If, when a person starts using medical cannabis their endocannabinoid system is significantly compromised, then how will the cannabinoids know which system or organ or tissue or cell to prioritize targetting? Terpenes. Terpenes are a signaling–or communication system–for plants and, it turns out, for humans as well. Continue reading →

“Every mammal has an endocannabinoid system.” When I first started looking into using medical cannabis for myself, that’s what the research said. It wasn’t until I’d achieved such remarkable results using medical cannabis for my intractable pain that I started to notice my four-legged family members in their own discomfort and wanted to bring them relief, too. This article is their story.

I started with my 17 year old hound, Jebadiah. In 2012, when Jebbie was 12 years old (and had already lived what most would call a full dog’s life,) he got in a fight with a brown bear…and lost. He dragged himself home, and it took several months before he could stand on his hind end–and, even then, it was both back legs working as one. It was no wonder to us that, as he aged, his back end was a source of pain and decreasing mobility for him. He had also developed glaucoma–his eyes were clouded over, and he moved like he couldn’t see very well, if at all. When I started to give him an infused-oil medical cannabis tincture, it was primarily–I thought–to give him relief in his last days… Continue reading →

Did you know that every cell has 15,000 biochemical interactions every second? And, did you know that there are, on average, 38 billion cells in a human body? 38 billion cells, each processing 15,000 chemical interactions per second. That’s a lot of processes per second! And how does the body keep it all working effectively? Cannabinoids.

Yep. Every cell has cannabinoid receptors–both on the exterior and interior of the cell. The cannabinoids connect to the cell’s physiology via receptor sites and modulate the 15,000 biochemical interactions to make sure they are in harmony with each other and maintain the homeostasis of a healthy body and balanced (ie happy) mental and emotional attitude. In fact, the current hypothesis amongst scientists studying the Endocannabinoid System is that a deficiency of cannabinoids is the very first indicator of declining health. Eventually disease follows if not restored. Continue reading →